The other suspect who said: Suffolk Strangler may be me

Lawyers for Steve Wright, who is on trial for the killings, said the other man, supermarket worker Tom Stephens, had phoned police during the manhunt, in December 2006, to tell them he might have a split personality.

This might mean he was "doing things which he doesn't know about, then going back to his 'normal' personality".

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Mr Stephens, 38, also speculated about the prostitutes' killer: "If it had been me, I would have strangled them.'

Ipswich Crown Court heard that Mr Stephens had admitted having sex with all five of the women whose naked bodies were found dumped near the town, in December, 2006.

He became a suspect and was arrested. The next day, forklift driver Wright was arrested.

The court heard that police were unable to establish an independent alibi for Mr Stephens for any of the nights on which the five women were said to have disappeared.

But he was never charged with any offence after forensic tests on his Renault Clio car and his home at Trimley St Martin, near Felixstowe.

Instead, police charged Wright, 49, with the murders of Tania Nicol, 19, Gemma Adams, 25, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29.

Mark Fenhalls, defending Wright, read out a series of admissions about Mr Stephens after agreeing the facts with the prosecution.

He said Mr Stephens had contacted police late on November 1, saying he had "confidential material about Tania Nicol".

"He said he thought he knew where Tania Nicol was going on the Monday evening when she disappeared," said Mr Fenhalls.

"He refused to give details over the phone and asked police to call him back. He gave his name and contact details.

"He said he was a friend of Tania Nicol."

Mr Stephens was put under police surveillance on November 9 and 10.

The surveillance started again on December 11 and continued until his arrest on December 18.

During that period he was seen repeatedly in the red light area.

The court heard that Mr Stephens went to Ipswich police station on November 16 and told officers that prostitutes he knew "had such an overwhelming addiction to drugs that they would take irrational risks".

He claimed he warned them if they went out to work one of them would be murdered, said Mr Fenhalls.

Mr Stephens called police on November 21, saying he "did not want to be seen as another Ian Huntley and wanted to help police".

Huntley was convicted of the 2002 murders of Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

On December 13, Mr Stephens was again seen in the red light area until 2am, attaching flowers to lamp posts.

He told one police officer that he thought the girls "might have been poisoned or overdosed with heroin".

The next day he went to Ipswich police station for another interview and told officers he was concerned that DNA might be found in his car.

Mr Stephens went immediately to the red light area after leaving the police station and spent an hour walking around.

Just before midnight "he was seen running up a street, with a woman shouting nearby".

He also spoke to police several times, once explaining how he could drive into the area without being seen on CCTV.

Wright denies all five murders. The trial continues.